GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Led by a strong second half, the University of North Dakota women's basketball team finished the 2011 portion of its home schedule with an 86-50 victory over Bemidji State. The win marked the second straight for UND (6-5) and put the Beavers (5-6) on a three game skid heading into the winter break.

"I thought we were playing at a slow pace to start the first half and weren't very aggressive," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "We talked about it and halftime and I give our players a lot of credit for responding and getting after Bemidji State for the next 20 minutes. In the second half, we played at a Division I level and that's the way we have to play all of the time."

Sophomore forward Madi Buck led the way for North Dakota with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-4 showing from three-point range. She also added a pair of free throws and topped all players with seven rebounds (five defensive).

Led by 14 points from redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.) and sophomore forward Katie Houdek (Grafton, N.D.), the UND bench scored nearly half (41) of UND's total 86 points. Evers led the reserves with 14 thanks to a career-best 6-for-10 showing at the foul line. She also went 4-for 6 from the field and snagged six rebounds (three offensive). Houdek was 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-8 at the stripe for 10 points.

"Emily has had a good night almost every game," Roebuck said. "She is very intelligent and gets good position. Sometimes people don't realize it, but she plays great help defense. She has come a long way. She isn't playing like a freshman."

North Dakota out-rebounded the Beavers 48-33, recorded 21 points on second chances, and converted BSU's 21 turnovers into 20 points. UND shot 29-for-63 (46 percent) from the field, 7-for-17 (41.2 percent) at three-point range, and 21-for-33 (63.6 percent) at the free throw line.

Bemidji State was led by Kate Warmack, who finished 3-for-9 from the field and 5-for-5 at the line for 11 points. Morgan Lee came away with 10, and Ellie Wessling and Paige Tompkins finished with nine apiece.

The Beavers shot 29.1 percent (16-for-55) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-for-15) behind the arc, and 87.5 percent (14-for-16) at the foul line.

Right out of the gate, North Dakota came out strong, putting up eight points before Ellie Wessman banked in a three to put Bemidji State on the board (16:41). After trading baskets, true freshman guard Cy'erra Mills (Maple Grove, Minn.) drove her way through traffic to open a 21-8 UND run that would give the home team a 31-12 advantage with just under eight minutes remaining. The run was capped by 10 straight points for UND as Buck struck from three-point range, Evers hit from the elbow, and sophomore forward Megan Lauck (Shoreview, Minn.) ended her scoreless streak with five unanswered points.

Morgan Lee stopped the run with five straight points of her own, but true freshman guard Brianna Williams (Minneapolis, Minn.) and junior guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.) were there to counter to make it 35-17 UND with 4:31 remaining in the half.

Just outside the four-minute mark, Warmack dropped in a long field goal to open a 6-0 run for Bemidji State - their longest stretch of the game - to pull the Beavers to within 11. After back-and-forth baskets through the final minutes, North Dakota went into the break leading 40-27.

Nine seconds into the new frame, Buck found her target and then Evers fired in five straight points. As the game hit the 15:40 mark, North Dakota led the Beavers 50-30.

Outside the first media timeout of the second half (15:40), Bemidji State put together a brief 9-5 run to pull within 15 points, but that was quickly washed away as North Dakota out-scored the Beavers 31-10 through the final 12 and a half minutes of the game.

Houdek started the run with a basket and the free throw to follow at 12:29, and then four different players combined for 11 points to give UND the 69-40 lead (8:30). BSU's Warmack hit a jumper 28 seconds later to register the first score for the Beavers in over four minutes. It was Warmack who had also put in BSU's last bucket at 12:48.

With 13 more unanswered points for UND, the Beavers found themselves down 81-42 with 4:44 remaining. Allison McKee struck from three-point range at 4:07, for her first basket of the game, but a comeback wouldn't be in the mix for BSU as North Dakota captured the win in its final home game of 2011.

North Dakota will hit the road this week with redemption on its mind as it travels to Bozeman, Mont., to face Montana State. The Bobcats defeated UND 67-63 in Grand Forks on Dec. 4.